You can always rely on the inimitable Gabriel Pogrund and Patrick Maguire of The Sunday Times and The Times to deliver the goods. Their new book ‘Get In: The Inside Story of Labour Under Starmer‘ is serialised in The Sunday Times today and has (possibly inadvertently) absolutely cooked Keir Starmer’s goose over his compliance with Covid restrictions. The well-sourced book recounts:
“The actress and communications skills coach Leonie Mellinger was integral to Starmer’s rise to power but her place in his inner circle is revealed for the first time today. She has spoken publicly about helping a notoriously reticent politician discover his voice — and counselling him as he considered resigning in 2021… Those who worked with Starmer on that leadership campaign say his triumph would not have been possible without Mellinger, who helped him navigate the transition from courtroom to Commons chamber, television studio and debating stage. He considered her role so essential that Mellinger even qualified for “key worker” status during the pandemic. She visited Labour headquarters in a mask on Christmas Eve in 2020, advising Starmer as he considered his response to Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal.”
There are at least a few problems with this. On ‘Christmas Eve in 2020’ (24 December) the UK was in the tiered system of regional Covid lockdowns. At that time, Labour HQ was located at Southside, Victoria Street, central London. London had been placed in Tier 4 on Sunday 20 December, the highest tier with the most severe restrictions, broadly equivalent to the national lockdowns…
In Tier 4 the government imposed restrictions including: ‘everyone must work from home unless they are unable to do so’ and ‘no household mixing, aside from support bubbles and two people meeting in public outdoor spaces.’ This was stricter than ‘necessary for work purposes’ exceptions that existed at other points – London was under a blanket work at home order unless working from home was impossible. These were restrictions made in law – not guidance. How can Starmer’s in-person meeting with his voice coach at Labour HQ possibly have been allowed under those restrictions?
Even if you concede Starmer’s voice coach could not have worked from home, this would be inconsistent with an account of a previous training session recounted in the book: Pogrund and Maguire describe how Mellinger joined a voice training session by phone call in April 2020. So they had previously worked remotely…
Another issue is the suggestion Starmer “considered her role so essential that Mellinger even qualified for “key worker” status during the pandemic.” The government published lists of critical workers at various points in the pandemic – the point was those people could still send their children to school despite school closures, to enable them to continue working. Being a ‘key worker’ was not an exemption from anything else…
The key workers mentioned relevant to politics were: “Local and national government: This only includes those administrative occupations essential to the effective delivery of: the COVID-19 response; essential public services, such as the payment of benefits including in government agencies and arms length bodies“. Starmer’s voice coach can hardly have been considered essential for the effective delivery of the Covid-19 response…
In any case, Starmer had no power whatsoever to designate someone a critical worker anyway. This revelation, which took place during a much stricter period of restrictions than Starmer’s infamous Beergate episode, and is described in print in black and white, poses serious questions for Starmer. Mr Rules is in trouble…
Paula Barker, Liverpool Wavertree MP backing Andy Burnham, told Times Radio there wouldn’t be trouble from the markets under Burnham:
“The markets will have to fall in line.”